Christoph Dunst designed Novel for use in editorial design – which he thinks shouldn’t be too surprising given its name. Yet he also wanted it to work for corporate typography. The design stems from the concern that most typefaces that are popular for corporate typography somehow feel a bit strong and stiff. This is why he set out to create a design that has a swashy and calligraphic appearance – but still is conventional enough for use in serious applications. He also wanted to have a high contrast in the strokes, referring to writing with the broad nib pen. As Christoph Dunst doesn’t like italics with too steep an angle, he decided to opt for a narrow and very upright Italic for Novel.